France and Saudi Arabia have announced the creation of a large entertainment complex in Paris. This announcement was made in a joint statement on Monday following a meeting at the Élysée Palace between French President Emmanuel Macron and the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, on the second day of the Saudi leader's official visit to Paris.
The project will be overseen by Qiddiya Investment Company, which is linked to the Saudi Vision 2030 program. It involves creating a multifunctional area in Cergy-Pontoise (approximately 30 kilometers northwest of Paris) that will combine entertainment, leisure, hospitality, culture, and sports, with the potential to develop into three theme parks.
According to French media reports, one of the attractions could be 'Dragon Ball Z'. The planned investments are estimated at approximately 6 billion euros and cover the entire development cycle. Macron emphasized that this is 'something unprecedented since the opening of Disneyland Paris' on April 12, 1992, and that the project should create about 22,000 direct jobs.
The project, whose start date has not yet been determined, will be located in Courdimanche, a town in the Cergy-Pontoise region, on the site of the former Mirapolis—France's first major amusement park, which opened in 1987 and closed in 1991. This project aligns with the agenda aimed at strengthening economic ties between France and Saudi Arabia, whose strategic relationship was announced during Macron's state visit to Saudi Arabia in December 2024.
Macron and Mohammed bin Salman chaired the first meeting of the France-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council at the Élysée Palace on Monday, which was established to expand cooperation between the two countries. The joint statement also indicates that more than 22 agreements and memorandums of understanding were announced during the visit in areas such as defense, healthcare, artificial intelligence (AI), new technologies, entertainment, and quantum computing.
France and Saudi Arabia also noted the growth of their trade relations, forecasting that bilateral trade turnover will reach approximately $11.8 billion (€10.1 billion) by 2025. According to the joint statement, France has become a major investor in Saudi Arabia, particularly in sectors such as energy, water management, transport, and logistics, while Riyadh seeks to expand its investment presence in Europe. Both governments also announced the creation of a special financial structure to facilitate projects implemented by French companies in Saudi Arabia.
Paris and Riyadh also decided to extend their partnership in AlUla—a Saudi tourism and heritage development project in the northwest of the country, focusing on archaeology, heritage, and culture—until 2035.